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The Categorical Situation of “Money”

At the Third Annual Law and Mind Sciences Conference at Harvard Law School, titled “The Free Market Mindset: History, Psychology, and Consequences,” (March 7, 2009) Christine Desan‘s presentation was titled “Legal Categories of Thought.” Desan is a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where she has taught since 1992. Her areas of interest include American constitutional history, legal and political thought, civil procedure, and statutory interpretation.

In her presentation, Professor Desan describess the rich variety of ways that the law categorizes different kinds of liquidity — including coin, banknotes, bonds, dollars, and securities, and explores some of the ways that legal doctrine has disciplined our thought, including our assumptions about money and the way it is made, about public and private, and about free choice in the marketplace. Below you can watch her talk in three videos (roughly 9 minutes each).

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To watch similar videos, visit the video libraries on The Project on Law and Mind Sciences Website (here) or visit PLMSTube.